More charges may be pending against bus driver

Thursday

Nov 7, 2013 at 12:17 PMNov 7, 2013 at 12:20 PM

By Tammy Whitacre twhitacre@messengerpostmedia.com

MACEDON — The Wayne County District Attoney’s Office is investigating a head-on crash involving an off-duty school bus driver and more charges may be pending.Julynn Criscuolo, 45, of Sodus, was arrested on Nov.1 and charged her with second-degree vehicular assault, driving while ability impaired by a combination of drugs and alcohol, failure to keep right and consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle following a head-on crash on Route 350 on Oct. 30. Criscuolo was traveling south on Route 350 around 6:25 p.m. when she crossed into the northbound lane and struck a vehicle being driven by Candace C. Aldrich, 64, of Farmington, police said. Cricuolo was allegedly intoxicated due to a combination of alcohol and prescription pain medication.Aldrich was seriously injured in the accident and transported to Strong Memorial Hospital where she is in satisfactory condition.Wayne Central School District issued a statement today expressing their “deepest regrets for the injuries and trauma to Ms. Candace Aldrich and her family.” According to school officials, Criscuolo, a nine-year district employee, had been removed from work the day of the accident “by the Director of Transportation, who had a reasonable suspicion that she was under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.” She was also transported home by a district employee, but not before she had completed the high school and middle school bus run that afternoon, district officials said.A substitute driver replaced Criscuolo for the Ontario Elementary and Ontario Primary bus run.Before being taken home, per U.S. Department of Transportation Regulations, Criscuolo was taken by the district to a certified testing facility where field tests were performed and the samples were sent to a laboratory for detailed analysis, the statement said. These test results are confidential.“The School District officials dealt with this matter in accordance with District policy and procedure as an employee/personnel issue and did not involve law enforcement agencies on the afternoon of the incident,” the statement said. “This situation has brought to light that our policies and procedure need to be strengthened to deal more effectively with this type of situation especially in the area of law enforcement notifications.”The district had begun civil service proceedings to terminate Criscuolo’s employment when she submitted a letter of resignation on Nov. 4, which was effective immediately, district officials said.